Kasey Cordell oversees the front-of-the-book sections, Compass, Adventure, and Culture. She also writes and edits service features, departments, and narrative stories, and contributes regularly to 5280.com. An avid traveler and athlete, Cordell often writes about travel, the outdoors, and creative endeavors, and she has a particular interest in covering veterans issues. The Oregon native joined 5280 in 2013 after stints at Boulder’s Daily Camera, National Geographic Adventure, and Portland Monthly magazine, where she helped the publication earn nearly 20 City and Regional Magazine and Society of Professional Journalists award nominations. Her story about sexual assault in the military, “The Hidden War,” won the SPJ’s 2011 Northwest Excellence in Journalism Competition for social issues reporting. Her writing has also appeared in Sunset, Monocle, Yoga Journal, and other publications. Cordell studied psychology as an undergraduate at Lewis & Clark College and holds two master’s degrees: one in Irish studies from Queen’s University Belfast and another in journalism from the University of Colorado.

Colorado is launching a first-in-the-country apprenticeship program that’s designed to let students earn it all: a diploma, a degree, and a middle-class wage. The best part? It’s free.

Meet the artists behind some of Denver’s most eye-catching murals.

Veterans who leave the military with other-than-honorable discharges often are denied health care and other Veterans Affairs benefits. Yet many suffer from conditions—such as post-traumatic stress disorder—that could have contributed to the behaviors that got them kicked out in the first place. The University of Denver’s Veterans Advocacy Project wants to help.

A local VA clinic helps amputees customize their artificial limbs with artful designs.

Dining out alone can sometimes feel like an exercise in second-class citizenship.

Think it’s been hot lately? You ain’t seen nothing yet. Average annual temperatures in Colorado are set to rise 2.5 to five degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2050. If that sounds like a modest increase, think again. We’re here to explain exactly how climate change could alter Colorado as you know it.

Way out in northwest Colorado, a lonely water tank perched atop a hill creates some of the coolest, swirling acoustics you'll ever hear.

In Colorado's stunning—but dangerous—landscape, it only takes one twisted ankle or freak snowstorm to turn your casual day hike into a life-threatening situation. These adventurers escaped scary scenarios. Outdoors experts explain how and why.